Ali Thanawalla Photography

Is Tim Tebow the most polarizing player in sports history?

2011-11-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Ask 10 football analysts what they think of Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and you will get 10 extreme responses.

Lots of people love his determination, tenacity and will to win. They think he'll be a decent NFL quarterback if he's given time.

But there is a large group of analysts that are adamant that he will never be a success. They continue to say that Tebow will never win games with his unorthodox mechanics. They think it was a bad decision to remove Kyle Orton as the starting QB for the Broncos.

The problem with that argument is that Kyle Orton, a prototypical drop-back quarterback, hasn't had much success over the last two years. In 2010, Orton started 13 games. The Broncos record in those games was 3-10. This season, Orton started and finished three games, losing all of them.

So my question to all the analysts calling for Tebow to be benched: Why can't you just let him go out and play? Give him a shot. We know he's not fundamentally sound. But What's the harm in seeing if he can turn the Broncos around. Kyle Orton wasn't turning them around. Brady Quinn is not an answer. If Tebow fails, he'll be out of the league soon enough.

There is no harm in giving Tebow a chance. The Broncos can't go out and bring in someone else in the middle of the season.

So to all the analysts that want Tebow run out of the league, unless you want to suit up and play quarterback for the Broncos, sit back, take a chill pill and just let him play.

Major Props to the Genius Bar

2011-10-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

I love most Apple products. I have a MacBook Pro. I have an iPod.

But I've always found it odd that a good portion of every Apple Store has been dedicated to fixing problems with Apple products. And no matter what time you visit the Genius Bar, it's always full.

Some friends have countered my point by saying that it shows Apple's dedication to customer support.

In August, my trusty MacBook Pro wouldn't turn on. I thought the hard drive had died. I took it to the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco, and after running so diagnostic tests, it was determined that the Logic Board had died, not the hard drive.

It was a $310 repair and my laptop took a vacation to Texas.

Four days later, on a Sunday, I got a call alerting me that my laptop was ready to be picked up. When I got there, and turned on the machine, the hard drive had been wiped clean. I had be warned that might happened. There were also tool marks near the disc drive that made it look like it had been pried open. The keyboard was different (the volume keys were in a different spot) and the trackpad wasn't smooth like mine. I figured because they had to replace the logic board, they must have had to install a brand new keyboard and trackpad.

I took the laptop home and started re-installing all the apps and putting my files back on it.

Two days later, while at work, I got a call from someone at the Apple Store informing me that there had been a mistake and that I had been given the wrong laptop. They had my laptop at the store.

On my lunch break, I went to store and made the switch. I was upset that a mistake like that could be made, but I didn't blow up them. To make up for their mistake, the manager on duty told me that they were going to reimburse me for the cost of fixing the logic board. She gave me a 10% discount card for any purchase at the Apple Store. As we were wrapping up the switcheroo, she asked me if there was anything else she could do for me. I showed her the screen on my laptop. It had a scratch in the middle of the screen, presumably from the keys scratching against it while in my bag. I told her I'd like to get it replaced.

After a few minutes, she told me that they would replace my screen for free. I told her I couldn't do it right away because I needed my laptop for work. She told me it was a $300-400 repair. She told me she would put a note on my Genius Bar account and if I came in within three or four months, they would repair my screen for free. I was a bit skeptical, but I took her word.

Last Tuesday, I noticed a crack on the bezel on the left side of my screen. By Wednesday morning, I was worried that the screen might break.

So I made an appointment at the Genius Bar. Part of me expected them to say that no note was every made on my account or that the offer had expired. But to my surprise, the offer still stood. They were going to replace my screen without charging me.

Today, I went to pick up my laptop. When the manager gave it to me, she told me that not only had they replaced the screen, but they had replaced the top case, the bottom case, the keyboard and the trackpad...all for FREE. Then she handed me the paperwork.

It was actually a $1240 repair! I was shocked!

Needless to say, I am a believer. I will never question the Genius Bar again.

Who wins World Series first, Cubs or Red Sox?

2011-10-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Cubs introduced their savior, Theo Epstein, today.

10 years ago, Epstein was the wonderkid being given the keys to the shiny luxury car. Today, he's the grizzled veteran being brought in to turn around another franchise starving for a championship.

Epstein relinquishes his post as General Manager of the Red Sox to become President of Baseball Operations for the North Siders. He will report directly to Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts, who was sitting alongside Epstein at the press conference today. Jed Hoyer, the GM of the San Diego Padres in 2011, will take over the vacant Cubs GM position.

The Cubs are a team in desperate need of an overhaul. After winning the NL Central in 2007 and 2008, they have finished 5th in the division the last two seasons. Previous management has burdened the team with unmovable contracts, such as Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano. Zambrano, the volatile starting pitcher, will make $18 million in 2012 and Soriano, a defensive liability in left field, is set to make $18 million each of the next three seasons.

Epstein and Hoyer will have some major holes to fill. The Cubs will be looking for a first baseman and it is expected that they will make competitive offers to superstar free agents Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder with the hope of making one the cornerstone player for the next seven or eight years. Right field and starting pitching are also priorities.

On the other hand, the team Epstein leaves behind, the Red Sox, are an organization in turmoil. They were the big offseason winners prior to the 2011 season, signing top free agent Carl Crawford and trading for MVP candidate Adrian Gonzalez. But the Red Sox blew a 9-game lead in the AL Wild Card race in September, the greatest collapse in history.

Since that walk-off loss to the Orioles to end the season, the Red Sox have parted ways with manager Terry Francona, allowed Epstein to leave and had to defuse a story that starting pitchers Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Jon Lester were in the clubhouse during games drinking beer during the pennant race.

Once again, the two teams are linked. Prior to 2004, they were the two teams rich in history but lacking in recent World Series titles. Now they are linked through Epstein, the Red Sox savior now trying to revive the Cubs.

It will be interesting to see which team will experience success faster.

The Red Sox have the on-field talent (MVP candidates Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia as well as All-Stars Crawford and Kevin Youkilis) but are trying to stabilize the front office. Do they have players that need to be traded for the sake of clubhouse chemistry? Who will manage the team? Will all the turnover in the dugout and front office hurt the team? Will it be a distraction?

The Cubs now have a solid brain-trust in position but need to overhaul the talent on the field. Superstar-in-waiting Starlin Castro is the cornerstone player Epstein and Hoyer can build around. A decision will have to be made about third baseman Aramis Ramirez and his $16 million team option. It's believed he wants to stay with the Cubs, but will the team want to pay that much money to a guy that hasn't hit 30 home runs since 2006 and hasn't driven in 100 runs since 2008. How much are they willing to offer to Pujols or Fielder?

Both teams have a lot of questions to answer and a lot to prove on the field over the next few seasons. We'll have to wait and see which one of Epstein's projects will produce first: his abandoned project or his reclamation project.

Making Something Out of Nothing

2011-03-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today, I was supposed to be on assignment for Sports Star Magazine covering the St. Ignatius - Sacred Heart Cathedral high school baseball game. The game was originally supposed to be played on Tuesday at AT&T Park as part of Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic. But because it was raining on Tuesday, it was rescheduled for today.

After work, I walked down to the ballpark. When I got there, the gates were closed and after asking a Giants employee, I discovered that there was no baseball game on the schedule at the ballpark.

If I had checked MaxPreps.com before I left the office, I would have noticed that the game was relocated to Marchbanks Park in Daly City, about two blocks from the BART station.

So Since I was in the area, I walked around to McCovey Cove.

Then I took the scenic root back to BART.

Hey, batter, batter, batter...swing!

2011-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I went to the Cal Baseball Classic at AT&T Park to watch a couple games. The first game, between Louisiana and UC Santa Barbara started at 11am. At 12, My buddy Matt showed up and we went and sat behind home plate. After that game ended, we were able to move to the first row directly behind home plate for the Long Beach State - University of San Francisco game.

I hadn't shot baseball in at least a year, but I felt like I came back with some shots I was happy with.

For the rest of my photos, check out my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/alithanawalla/

Pier to Nowhere

2011-03-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

I've always been fascinated by the long pier at the Berkeley Marina, so whenever I go there, I hope for interesting light. Today, the sun was shining through the clouds and reflecting brightly off the water. I felt the diptych was an effective way to show the pier from both sides.

Doggie Singles Party!

2011-02-14T03:12:00.000-08:00

That's what the Dog A'Fair felt like.

Anybody that know's me well knows that I'm not fond of dogs at all. I don't like over-friendly Man's Best Friends. I can deal with small dogs, but I have a difficult time being around any dog that has the ability to maul me (okay, jump on me and knock me down). So I wasn't sure if I had made the correct choice in allowing Zahir to take me the dog festival at the Radio Club.

But I will be the first to admit that I enjoyed photographing the dogs. All the dogs were on leashes, and for the most part, the dogs were more concerned with doing a little speed sniffing...er, I mean speed dating rather than bothering an unfamiliar human.

For more of my photos from the Dog A'Fair, go to www.flickr.com/alithanawalla

After the dog festival, I met up with Samira and her friend Gunjan at Kala Ghoda in an attempt to do some shopping for gifts. It took as about five minutes to realize it was a lost cause. A street art festival on a Sunday afternoon? I think everybody in all of Bombay was there. So we just started walking away from the festival. Because there were so many people, we were finding it difficult to hold the conversation, so we stopped in a little alley. As we started talking, a guy started banging on a drum and a little girl, probably six or seven years old, started doing somersaults.

Street Performer 01 from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

Then she climbed up the poles and started traversing the tight rope as the man continued to bang on the drum. As you can see from the video below, there was also an element of call and response between the two.

Tight Roping Street Performer from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

I read that the terrific weather that the Bay Area has been spoiled with since I left will be overtaken by rain in the next day or two. I hope Mother Nature gets it all out of its system by the time I get back next Monday. I'm getting used to nice weather and I'm not looking forward to returning to rain. Please proceed to collectively curse at me.

A Day of Remembrance

2011-02-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

I must warn you, the theme of the day was a bit sad. Some might say morbid.

On Friday, my aunt told me that she wanted to go to her grandmother's grave, as yesterday was the anniversary of her passing. My Badi Nani (Great Grandmother) passed in 1994, two years before my mom. I was 10 when Badi Nani passed, but I still remember spending time with her when my mom and I would stay with her and my grandmother.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I had been to Badi Nani's grave.

We stopped to pick up pre-made flower arrangements from a custom flower shop. Once we got to the cemetery, before we could lay the flowers, place the incense or pray, we had to get someone to pour water on the grave. Once we placed the flower arrangement over the grave, my aunt lit incense and each of us placed two or three sticks in the grave.

Day of Remembrance from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

A few other family distance family members were buried in the same cemetary, so we went around to all of them and placed some loose flowers and incense on them.

I know this is going to sound weird to some of you, but I'm glad I got to experience this.

In the evening, I went with my aunt and cousin to the memorial service for my cousin's friend's mom, which I mentioned in an earlier blog post. It was a much smaller, low key service than the one we had for my mom. There were no speeches at this service. Anybody that wanted to pay their respects was allowed to come by and see the family. My cousin's friend was surprisingly composed. She cried a little bit during the prayer towards the end. My cousin and I were just trying to keep her friend's spirits high by making her smile and/or laugh.

One week left on my trip. Still have a lot of things to do and a few family members to visit. I think Samira and I are going to go back to the Kala Ghoda Festival today and look at the crafts to see if there is anything worth buying.

Bring on the World Cup...of Cricket

2011-02-10T01:48:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone. It's actually almost 3pm here on Thursday, but most of you will be reading this as you wake up.

Not feeling too good right now. I think I ate some bad food last night. Wasn't a pretty scene last night. But I slept off the bug and I feel better today. Decided to stay home and take it easy. My aunt and cousin have gone out for lunch.

Anyway, before my near-death experience last night, per my request, Zahir took me to a spot on Marine Drive I had been eyeing for a couple days. As evidence by the video a posted last week, Marine Drive a long stretch of road. From the far end, you can see all the major Government and office buildings. But this year, there is a new character in the Marine Drive skyline: Wankhede Stadium. New in the sense, the lights are on in the evening because construction crews are making last minute round-theclock preparations for the Cricket World Cup which is starting on the 19th. So just about evening since I've been here, the lights have been on. Below is a 30 second exposure.

On Tuesday, my aunt and I went to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Kala Ghoda is a big artsy area in the middle of South Bombay with lots of old British-built buildings. The festival was your typical street fair. There were booths where people were selling crafts, there was entertainment for kids. People were taking photos with statues and shrines built for the festival. And there was a large stage set up for dancing and plays. From about 5pm to 10pm, there were a number of performances. My aunt and I watched three performances.

After the festival, we stopped so that my family could buy some snacks from one of the street vendors. These guys were popular. They were making Bhel Puri and Sev Puri. And it wasn't that expensive. My aunt, cousin and friend all ate two helpings and the total for all three of them came to 70 rupees. That's literally a $1.50. And that was pretty much their dinner for the evening. That's not too shabby if you ask me.

Alrighty, like I said, I'm supposed to be taking it easy today, so I'm going to go do a little reading and take a nap before everyone gets home.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

2011-02-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a few days, partly because things have slowed down and I haven't done much of anything worth writing about. But also, I caught a case of Writer's Block, which tends to happen to me after a few days of writing. I love to write (I originally got into journalism to write) but I can't do it consistently enough to make a career out of it.

Anyway, yesterday was an interesting day. The events led to a lot of retrospective thinking.

At about 9am yesterday, my aunts cell phone rang. It was in her bedroom, but we were in the living room talking, so I ran to get it for her. It was my cousin Samira's best friend. From the moment she answered the phone, my aunt knew something was wrong, so she went into Samira's room and woke her up.

About two minutes later, Samira came out of her room and told us that her best friend's mom had just died. Samira's friend had just left home and was on the train headed for work when she herself got the call that her mom had died. She wasn't sick. So within the time she had left the house and 9am, something had happened to her mom. It's amazing that your life can change that dramatically that quickly.

The original plan was for all of us to go to Samira's friends house, but eventually, I ended up going to Zahir's office, while Samira and my aunt spent the entire day at her friend's house. A big part of me wanted to go because this friend had helped me just this past weekend look for gifts for friends. Even though I don't know her that well, I do know that she's a sweet girl. But I also knew that since I didn't really know the family, it wasn't my place. Samira and my aunt picked me up at 7:30 and that's when they told me that the lady had suffered a stroke and passed away on the way to the hospital.

For those that don't know, my mom suffered a stroke and died in 1996. So this whole situation really got me thinking about how the whole episode unfolded for me, and if it had happened like it happened to Samira's friend, how would I have reacted. Back then, I was unbelievably close with my mom. If she were still alive today, I imagine we'd be just as close. I can't even begin to imagine my reaction if, while on a packed BART train, I got a call from my dad or a friend telling me my mom had collapsed and died just like that. The idea that it could all be over so quickly, to me, defies logic.

Anyway, enough of the depressing rambling. Back to our regularly scheduled programming: Photos!

Today, we went to Bandra to take care of errands so we stopped by the Mount Mary church for a few minutes. Simply beautiful. There are two parts of the church. Across the street from the main building is the statue of Mary. The statue is encased above a small chapel. This first photo is of the chapel and the case containing the statue of Mary.

This is the main building. The front entrance was closed, so I couldn't go in.

While waiting for my family to finish their business, I stopped to admire the palm trees.

Two nights ago, we went to Colaba to do some shopping. We passed by the woman on the way to a shop. On the way back, I stopped for a minute. I had hoped to catch someone giving her some money.

I didn't post anything about our weekend road trip to Lavasa, a hill station 4-5 hours outside of Bombay. I'll keep it brief. It was magnificent. Because it was secluded from the city, there wasn't much smog. I felt like it was a combination of Lake Tahoe and Anderson Lake County Park in Morgan Hill.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl. It's not on TV here this year (Ten Sports used to broadcast it, as recently as two years ago), so I'm going to have to try to stream it online. Gotta wake up at 5am on Monday here. I'm rooting for the Steelers for two reasons. 1. I grew up hating the Packers, so despite the fact that Aaron Rodgers is their QB, I can't root for them. 2. Despite his numerous stupid personal decisions, I'm a huge Roethlisberger fan. The guy just finds ways to win games.

Take A Ride

2011-01-29T01:12:00.000-08:00

Riding in a car traveling along Marine Drive is always enjoyable. It's about two minutes with very few stops. People are always walking or sitting on the sea wall. Here is a video I recorded yesterday on my iPod.

Take A Ride Along Marine Drive (Mumbai) from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

Yesterday was Samira's 30th birthday, so we went to one of her favorite restaurants, 5 Spice, a chinese restaurant in the Fort area of Mumbai. We were the last people to leave the restaurant, so the area was deserted, except for a few security guards and stray dogs.

We are heading out on a road trip early tomorrow morning. We're going to go to a new hill station city called Lavasa and possibly stop in Pune. My family has been telling me to go to Pune for a long time.

On a side note, the images from Egypt are insane. I've been glued to CNN all morning. I feel like we're watching a major international country crumble before our eyes. For a country known for it's tourism, it's going to be interesting to see how dramatic of a fall their tourism industry takes.

Signing off. About to head out with Samira to an Astrology Exhibit.

They have won, we have lost

2011-01-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

Today is Republic Day in India. It's their 4th of July. I wanted to go to the Gateway of India to take photos, but the entire area was sealed off to traffic by barricades. You could walk down towards the Gateway, but they wouldn't allow cameras. I can't imagine security at Pier 39 being so tight that they wouldn't allow people to take photos. It's official. Those bad guys that want to cause mass destruction and mass chaos have won.

In the evening, I took a walk down behind our building with Zahir. People tend to gather on the sea wall and watch the sun set or exercise.

Alright. Off to bed. Visiting one of my favorite aunts in Bandra tomorrow.

Is it "sari" or "saree"?

2011-01-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

When I used to visit Bombay with my mom, I would always tag along with her and her sister when they went shopping for jewelry or clothes. The men behind the counter would always offer me something to drink, usually a mango juice box.

Today brought back some of those memories. I met up with Naseem Aunty, who is also visiting from the US. We had lunch with her husband's parents at the Cricket Club of India (CCI), which is literally a cricket stadium. We ate lunch in one of the many restaurants in the concourse.

After lunch, Naseem Aunty and I went to a sari (or is it saree? I've asked Shehnaz Aunty and Samira, and they've both said it's interchangeable and that either one works) store a few blocks from CCI. She needed to get some gifts for friends back home. We spent about an hour in this shop and I watched her try on at least two dozen saris. The most amusing part of all this was that all of the men that worked there started to gather around and watch her try on the saris. I had been joking with her that she was becoming a Bollywood Diva, and anybody walking into this store during this hour would not have been blamed if they thought they had stumbled upon a Bollywood actress shopping for saris.

Afterwards, we went back to CCI, found her in-laws and had some tea before going our separate ways.

As I write this, we are trying to plan a short 2 day family trip for this weekend. We're looking at tiny hill station towns, like Lavasa. There are a couple other options, we feel like some of them require more than two days and one night.

Tomorrow is Republic Day here in India, which is their Independence Day. Not sure what we're going to do, but I've been told that the Air Force conducts an aerial show, so hopefully I'll get to check that out.

I survived a Big Bazaar Sale

2011-01-23T06:22:00.000-08:00

Imagine a Black Friday-type scene inside a Mumbai all-in-one grocery store/supermarket. Nowhere to go. Carts hitting the back of your legs. Reaching over strangers to get the product you need. Store employees on bullhorns exclaiming the deals of the day. It was quite an experience. Next time you go to Safeway or Whole Foods, imagine having to spend 30 minutes in line, while the family in front of you unloads and pays for three carts of goods.

We are a house full of exhausted souls.

Yesterday was a bit more relaxing. Spent the afternoon going to Hanging Garden and Chowpatty Beach at sunset. The beach was full of kids running around, flying kites and riding the ferris wheel rides.

In the evening, I had dinner with my cousin Zahir and his girlfriend at the Radio Club never the Taj Hotel and Gateway of India. There was a wedding party taking place on the patio.

After dinner, while walking back to the car, we stopped to say hi to one of the horses pulling the carriages. He was quite tame.

We're all just lying around right now. Samira, Rahim and I are watching CSI NY. Zahir is about to update the OS on my Blackberry. Just another chill evening in the Wallani household.

Gonna see family from my dad's side the next few days.

Health + Love = Happiness

2011-01-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

I love my grandmother.

Not much creativity in the writing. Just the truth.

I got to spend some time with her yesterday. She's healthy and happy, and nothing makes me happier.

Samira took me to Bandra via the much-talked-about Bandra Worli Sealink. If a suspension bridge and a freeway had a child, it would be this Sealink. When I was here two years ago, construction on the Sealink had not yet finished, so this was my first time on it. As you can see, cranes are still present, meaning work has yet to be completed. Whatever the cost of the Sealink, and I know it was costly, it was worth every paisa.

While waiting for my cousin to finish some work, I watched this man take in his surroundings.

While in Bandra, we stopped to eat dosa's on the main road. Walked this stretch of road many times when I was younger.

The setting moon and rising sun of Mumbai

2011-01-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

I've been in Mumbai a little over 24 hours. But it feels like I never left.

Even though I haven't been here for two years, my family has a way of making me feel like I've been here the whole time. I slide into their lives naturally, like the final piece to a puzzle.

The first 24 hours weren't that interesting. Didn't leave the house. But today, the plan is to go see my grandmother. I still can't get past the fact that my first solo trip in 2005 was primarily to see her due to some health issues(I was told she may not live much longer), yet almost 6 years(and 4 trips) later, she's still going strong. (PS - As I write this, I am glancing out the window at another awesome Mumbai sunrise - the kind my mom loved.)

More to come...

MaxPrex Test 2

2010-09-20T11:36:00.001-07:00

MaxPreps Test

2010-09-16T10:27:00.001-07:00

Just some stuff from the last few weeks

2010-04-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Went to the Tea Party Rally at Union Square a few weeks ago. It was pretty mellow. It was basically a bunch of people standing in front of a microphone screaming that Obama is ruining this country. This was really the only photo I get from the event.

Some family came to town two weeks ago. On their first day in San Francisco, my dad and I met took them to Pier 39. My two cousins, Jennifer and Stephanie, were walking ahead of us. Just a cool moment.

Last week, I was given the chance to go cover a story with Chronicle Sports Columnist Scott Ostler. He was doing a story on two Harlem Globetrotters, Curly Neal and Wun Versher. We had lunch with them near Ghiradelli Square. After lunch, we took them up to a basketball court on Lombard and Hyde. I only had 3 minutes to take these portraits as they were in a hurry to get to their next event.

After taking the portraits of the Globetrotters, Scott and I were heading back to the Chronicle building. We were heading back on Powell, stopped at a red light at Pine, when a red taxi cab went racing right by us, running the red light and slamming into a white Chrysler PT Cruiser. The two cars ricochetted into a couple people walking up Powell. This photo shows the driver of the Chrysler being prepped to be loaded into the ambulance.
I never saw a follow-up story, so I don't know how any of the injured people are doing, or what caused the taxi driver to run the red light.

The week that is..or was...

2010-04-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun week so far.
On Saturday, I spent the day with my buddy Eric and his son Erik. We went to Fry's in Walnut Creek to do a little shopping, and on the way home, we took the scenic route.

We ended up driving through some interesting towns along the Carquinez Strait. First, we stopped in Port Costa, which was this little old town with old Western-style bar.

Then stopped off at a pier in Eckley. Some random kids were fishing on the pier. You can see the Carquinez Bridge from the pier, and every few minutes, the Amtrak train will come rumbling by.

Next, we drove down to Crockett to the C&H Sugar Factory. The train tracks run by the factory and there were a bunch of old train cars just sitting on the track. It looked like they hadn't been used in a while.

On Monday, we found out that our Editorial Cartoonist Mark Fiore had won a Pulitzer Prize for his animated political cartoons. Late in the afternoon, we found out that there would be a mini press conference in our office. CBS sent a team to record it for the evening news. As you can see, a lot of the Chronicle staff showed up for the event.

Yesterday, myself and fellow SFGate intern Chloe Roth ventured up to the roof of the Chronicle building. She had been sitting all day and needed to stretch. She proceeded to do some yoga. I happened to have my camera.

Updated on 4/7/10: Places I've Been, People I've Seen

2010-04-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

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Stinson Beach

2010-04-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning, I got a text message from cousin asking if I wanted to take a little trip to Muir Woods. I was tired, but I hadn't been to Muir Woods in about 15 years, so I said yes.
When we got there, it was crowded and there was no parking. We would have had to park about a mile away from the entrance, so we decided to keep driving to Stinson Beach. The plan was to take a hike, but before we started, we went to the beach for a few minutes. Didn't have to go very far for this photo.
It doesn't look like much, but I really like it. Hope you see as much in it as I do.

Holding Hands

2010-03-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my 26th birthday this past weekend, I went to Rodeo Beach in Marin with my dad and my friend Eric and his girlfriend Pacha. We were walking along the beach, taking photos of the surfers (although they weren't doing much surfing). I told Eric that I wanted to take some photos of him and Pacha. This photo was more of an outtake. I was going for something else, and this moment just kind of happened while I was switching cameras.

Empty Coliseum

2010-03-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

My dad and I went to the Oakland Coliseum. We're going to purchase a ticket package, so we got to look at the seats before we made the purchase. The A's groundscrew was getting the field ready. It was a perfect day for baseball. Too bad everybody is in Arizona right now.

Back to Photo Blogging

2010-03-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

So I went to cover the highly anticipated March 4th "Day of Action" Protest in Berkeley on Thursday morning. I could only stay for a few hours, as I had to get back to the office to take care of some other projects, but while I was there, the students essentially took over Sather Gate. They locked arms, and wouldn't allow other students or faculty to pass buy.
After a while, the photos got repetitive. I wanted to get to the other side, but they had the gate blocked, so I walked a little ways around campus and was able to get to the other side.
This is my favorite image from the morning. I like silhouettes. I also think it's a good synopsis of the event: the nameless, the faceless, group fighting for the same cause.

New Moon

2009-11-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

PerrysGolfTourneyFaves12

2009-11-06T18:02:00.001-08:00

Slow News Week

2009-01-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed by the lack of posts, I've been taking it easy for the last few days. Not a lot has happened. Monday, we had work done on the house, we didn't leave the house until 9pm for dinner. Tuesday, I went and visited a couple aunts. Today, my aunt and I finished off all the shopping I had been wanting to do. I just had to get to get the Daruwala horoscope for 2009. Ask Sarah, it's an addictive read. So far, it's looking like 2009 will be very prosperous for me.
I've got two days left. I've already started to pack, but I'm pretty sure everything will be removed from the bags and repacked Saturday evening.

Anyway, just thought I'd post some photos from the last few days. Nothing spectacular.

It's about that time to get back into Xpress mode. Call me crazy, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the newsroom. The break was much-needed, but it's time to get back to work.

Taxi! Taxi! Taxi! Taxi?

2009-01-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

Bombay is known for overflowing with taxis, but as of last night, a large majority of taxis are out of commission. You see, there is a fuel shortage in Bombay. As of yesterday, the drivers of the tanker trucks that bring fuel into the city went on strike. And already, gas stations are running dry. The taxis over here run on something called CNG and all the places that sell CNG are completely out, so the taxis are running on whatever they have left in their tank. In this morning's Times of India, the President of the Taximen's Union said that 70% of the 55,000 taxis in Bombay were already off the roads.
After dinner last night, even we went to fill up our car. While my family was waiting in line, I got out to take photos. This gas station was one of the few 24-hour stations in downtown Bombay. When we got in line, we thought we'd be there for at least an hour, but we were actually there for roughly 40 minutes, which gave me enough time to walk around and shoot.
They actually had to get police in to direct traffic and make sure fuel transactions were happening on the up and up.

There was a freeway overpass right next to the gas station. I told my cousin that that would be the best place to go take a photo. We went without telling anybody, because if they had known we were walking on the side of the freeway, they would have killed us. But it was the photo I wanted, with the cars lined up, entering the gas station.

Before all this gas shortage stuff, we went and had dinner at the Radio Club, which our family has a membership to. The thing is, it is right down the road from the Taj Hotel. When Rahim and I were done with dinner, we took a walk down the block to go see the Taj and the Gateway of India. Even for 10:30 at night, it was completely empty. They had just reopened the road in front of the Taj but there was still barely any traffic. The huge open area, where the media had set up during the attacks, was empty.

Security was visible. There were barricades surrounding the Gateway and there were barricades lining the Taj. Believe it or not, but they actually had a cop at the back entrance. Whether he was armed or not, I do not know. But nobody gave me any problems taking photos of the Gateway or Taj.

I don't know how much I'll be able to do in the next few days with the gas shortage. Taxis aren't running and there's only so much gas we have in the car. Will probably have to walk everywhere, which will limit the distance I can go. My aunt is so worried that this strike will go on for 10 days, she wants me to call Jet Airways and see if they have some sort of pick-up service to the airport in case we don't have gas to go to the airport next Saturday night.

We'll soon find out.

Oh, and how bout them Gators?!? Got up early this morning to watch the Gators roll over the Sooners. Two titles in three years. It was a good game. Both defenses played well. But the Sooners run defense vanished in the 2nd half and Sam Bradford, although he had a good completion percentage, just never looked comfortable. I think the Sooners really missed DeMarco Murray. I bet if the Heisman voters could vote again, and take into consideration the entire season, with what Tim Tebow was able to do, what he was able to promise, he'd have won the Heisman and not Bradford. Bradford had a great season and I really like him (if you go back almost a year and half ago in this very blog, you'll see that I predicted Bradford would win this year) but Tebow should have won the Heisman, even without today's game. He just proved that he is the single best and most important player in college football, and that he is the biggest game-changing player in the game.

Alright, well, hope everybody has a good night. I'm waiting for Rahim to come home and then we are gonna go get some lunch.

Take it easy,
Ali

So much for that idea

2009-01-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

I know I should have planned this photo story better, but the time just wasn't there. So I emailed Happy Home School for the Blind at the end of last week. I explained what I wanted to do and that I would be taking photos and recording audio. I explained that I would like to come to the school and spend a couple days with the kids before I start shooting. The Director of the school sent me an email Monday informing me that I was welcome to come to the school for a meeting and tour today (Wednesday afternoon). But this morning at about 10am, I called her just to confirm the meeting. She informed me that I would not be allowed to take any photos or transcribe any notes. She then told me that if I wanted to take photos, I'd have to address a photo to the school and have it approved by the committee and that the committee wouldn't be meeting until next Tuesday. In my eyes, I need to start this project no later than next Monday to have enough time to do the story justice.
But at least I have a lead for the next time I come here. Any I'm enjoying the concept of relaxing and not working.
To make up for not being able to work on this story, I did a bit of audio editing for a personal project from a few months ago. School got in the way and I got about half way through all the audio when I put the project on hold. But hopefully I can finish the audio in the next few days and do a preliminary soundslides before I leave.

So getting back to my trip, yesterday, my cousin Zahir and I went with a few of his friends to Kobe to have sizzler steaks. I posted photos from this place the last few years. It's always interesting to go there. It's expensive, but the food is worth it.

In one of the last issues of [X]press this past semester, I wrote about the terrorist attacks that happened in Bombay at the end of November. I mentioned that my family lives within 5 minutes of the Oberoi and Taj Hotel. Both are clearly visible from our house. Today, I was home with my cousin Rahim and we were standing at the window talking and we were looking at the skyline in front of us. He looked at the Oberoi and pointed out that there are still burn marks around the window of one room.

The Oberoi (arrow pointing to burnt out room):

Taj Hotel

So my family had a front row seat to all the chaos. They told me that their windows rattled whenever grenades exploded and they could hear the gunfire.

That's about it from here. This post was supposed to go up about 10 hours ago, but the photo uploading function wasn't working.
Everybody enjoy watching my Gators run all over the Sooners tonight in the BCS Championship. I found a website that will probably stream it live for free, so I will be up at about 5am watching the game. Go Gators!

I hate being sick...

2009-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

...especially when I'm on vacation and trying to enjoy myself. I wanted to leave the house, but I just didn't have the energy to roam around. Even on New Years, we went out for dinner, but I just couldn't wait to get back to the comfort of the house.
But now, I'm feeling better. Not 100%. Still have an annoying cough and cumbersome runny nose. But my energy to roam around has come back.
I didn't really do anything worthwhile over the last four days.
But today, I went to see my grandmother in Bandra. This fact still amazes me. My trip to Bombay at the end of 2005 was brought on by the fact that my family alerted me that my grandmother was sick and she may not live much longer, and since I hadn't been to Bombay since 2001, I might want to see her one last time. So, although terribly frightened at the thought of traveling by myself for the first time, I came to see her.
Three years and three trips later, my Nani is still fighting, although it has gotten tougher each year.

Something sad actually happened while we were visiting my grandmother. She's staying in this building that has been turned into a senior living center for women. When we got to the place, she was in the main room with four or five of the other women. After about five minutes, one of the women started to cry. She was speaking Marati, and our family friend that had come along with us said that she was sad because her family never comes to visit her. She was sad at the sight of the other residents being visited by two of her grandchildren. It was quite sad and we felt bad. We made sure to tell my grandmother to share the chips and chocolate we brought her. Now, hopefully she remembers.
On a lighter note, my grandmother actually remembered that I live in "Berkeley, in California." I'm glad she at least still has her long-term memory. She has about a one-minute short-term memory. If she had said Kensington, I would have been knocked off my feet. At that point, I would have taken San Francisco and been happy, so the fact that she remembered Berkeley made me feel really good.

On the way back, we stopped on Carter Road in Bandra because the sun was setting. I only had about three minutes to shoot, so I didn't get too many shots off, but I was fairly happy with the results.

I'll be back in this area tomorrow visiting one of my aunts, so if I'm around there near sunset, I may take another crack at it.

Only about 11 days left, so I have to the make the best of it. I want to try to do a photo story, but I'm not sure if I can make it happen on such a short timetable. We'll see.
Alright, well, it's 1:30AM here. Time to get ready for bed.

Everybody, have a good week.

Ali

Where was the celebration?

2009-01-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

Reading all the newspapers in Bombay during the last two days leading up to January 1st, all I saw was how relieved people where that 2008 was ending and how hopeful they were with 2009 coming. Just because a number changes doesn't mean everybody's problems go away, but people wanted to believe that the recession would be a thing of the past. Mumbaikers, as the people are called here, wanted to leave the terrorist attacks in the past.
After reading all this for the last two days, I was extremely disappointed with the fact that there were no big celebrations and no fireworks when the clock struck midnight.
After any major attack, the government tells their people to live their lives normally, and that if you alter your routine, you allow the terrorists to win, that they got their desired effect.
Well, I feel like the terrorists claimed a small victory last night. There were no fireworks on Marine Drive. There were no fireworks at the Taj Hotel.
The city's routine was anything but normal last night.

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon visiting family in Bandra. I got to spend some quality time with my niece, Naira, and nephew, Kahzar.

I think Naira is a model in the making.

I'm trying to get over a cold myself and my aunt caught a few days ago. I spent most of today sleeping, which actually felt pretty good. My aunt blames the weather, saying that it gets really warm, then get cold pretty quickly in the evening.

Hope everybody had a safe New Year's celebration.

Take i easy,
Ali

Adventures in Bombay, Part 2

2008-12-29T21:51:00.000-08:00

So when i last wrote, I was preparing to go on a road trip with Zahir to Lonavla. We left bright and early Saturday morning (his friend Burges picked us up at 7am) and met up with his girlfriend and her parents before heading up the Expressway. The drive was about 2 hours, and around 90 minutes into the drive, we stopped at a food court to grab a quick bite. As we were leaving, we stopped near the entrance, where there were random signs that caught our eye.

So naturally, we had to take one.

So Lonavla was pretty sweet. The weather was awesome. My cousin and his friends thought it was too hot, but to me, it was perfect. We spent much of the afternoon playing basketball outside, although the ball was sorta flat. But it was better than not having a ball at all.

In the evening, Burges and his girlfriend played badminton in the courtyard.

During the day, we ventured into town to buy supplies for the house. Even though Zahir and I were planning to head back to Bombay the next day, the rest of the crew is actually still up there and plan to be there until the 3rd. In fact, Zahir is packing as I write and is heading back up for a few days.
While we were shopping, we stopped for lunch. One of the funnier things I've seen in a long time occurred in the bathroom.

The toilet was fighting back.

In the evening, when it started to cool down, Burges was hellbent on starting a bonfire in the courtyard. The servants in charge of the cottage actually made the process extremely easy. They gave us a bowl and twigs. The flame was crazy, at least for the first few minutes.

The twigs just didn't want to hold the flame. We tried pouring some whiskey on the flame, but that was good for a two-second thrill.

Something I've wanted to do each of the years I've been here is photograph Marine Drive. We use the road everyday, but we've just never had the time to stop at night. So the last two nights, I've had my cousin stop the car along Marine Drive so that I could take photos.
The ring of lights along the long stretch of road is commonly known as the Queen's Necklace, and from elevated locations, looks spectacular. My cousins friend is going to try to get me onto the roof of her building along Marine Drive.
For now, I've photographed Marine Drive from each side. Since i didn't bring a tripod with me, I've had to try to handhold these long exposures. The longest I can do is one second.

I love it here. I know tourists are being warned to not come here, but if you ever have a chance, you should make the trip. It may not be my home, but when I'm here, I feel at home.
Today, I'm going to my dads' family's place to hang out with my cousin Sarah. One of my favorite aunts is coming to visit.
Tomorrow, I'm taking Sarah to Bandra to visit a couple more aunts.

I hope everybody has a safe New Years. Because of the events of last New Years and the terrorist attacks, most of the New Years parties over here have strict curfews of 12:30am. For those not familiar with the events from last year, there were multiple occurrences of molestation of women around Bombay. One occurred at The Gateway of India, and another happened in Juhu. Both were front page news for days.

The next time you hear from me, it will probably be 2009. I'm pretty satisfied with the way 2008 went. I'm sure 2009 will bring more new experiences. Old chapters will finally close and new chapters of my life will hopefully open up.

Take care,
Ali

Greetings From Mumbai

2008-12-26T10:34:00.001-08:00

Well, that was quite the trip.
I got into Mumbai this morning at about 10am, roughly three and a half hours after I was supposed to land. The plane was ready to go, but believe it or not, the cabin crew was not.
My flight out of SFO on Wednesday was delayed because one of the alternate pilots was caught in bad weather coming to San Francisco.
I'm still amazed by the airport in Mumbai. It takes 3 minutes to get through Immigration, but 45 minutes for all your bags to get to baggage claim.
Today was sort of a chill day. Took calls from a lot of my aunts, who want to see me. Got a few meetings to strategically plan out.
Tomorrow morning, I going with my cousin Zahir on a one day road trip, so I should have some interesting photos from that. We have to get back for a big dinner Sunday night and a wedding reception on Monday. I'll probably have photos from that as well.

More later.

Ali

Stuart and John

2008-07-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is my story on Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis. They got married on June 17th, 2008, at City Hall in San Francisco. They have been together for about 21 years and recently celebrated their one-month anniversary of their marriage.
The story spans around three weeks of the lives.

Discovering Polk Street

2008-07-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is my neighborhood project on Polk Street in San Francisco. I didn't know much about the area going into this project, but I found out that Polk Street used to be the old gay neighborhood before the younger gay crowd migrated to The Castro about 20 years ago. I met some interesting people and learned something new about a part of San Francisco.

For a bigger version, go to:
http://alithanawalla.webng.com/PolkStreet_BIG/

Favorite Team, I Renounce You.

2008-01-25T19:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry. Business is business.

Today. I got an email from a colleague, Matt Smith, asking me to answer a question for him. He gave me free reign to ramble. He knows me better than I thought.

Matt asked me if, and when, it's okay to renounce your favorite sports team. It's basically one of those things when you can't take it anymore. Or they just do something that either breaks your fan heart, or you think is the dumbest move possible.
Well, here is what I wrote for Matt:

I think it's okay to renounce your favorite sports team, but with a few conditions.
First, you can not, under any circumstances, return to rooting for that team. You can't grow up rooting for the Knicks, then renounce them because of Isiah Thomas, and then come back in five years when they start winning again. Once you give them up, they are as good as gone.
Second, you have to fully commit to the new team of interest. You must become part of their 'Nation.'
With that said, I will give my personal experience. And I will state for the record that if I hadn't renounced this team 10 years ago, I would have surely done so in the last four years.
Growing up in the Bay Area in the late 80's and early 90's, I was an Oakland A's fan. When you're a kid, you're influenced by your parents. My dad was (and still is) a huge A's fan, and he always liked Mark McGwire. So naturally, Big Mac became my favorite player. In 1996 and the beginning of 1997, there were grumblings that the A's were going to trade him. At the time, I didn't understand the business of the game. All I knew was that the A's were going to trade my favorite player. When they finally traded him to St. Louis, I was devastated. The fact that he gave St. Louis the thrill of watching the Great Home Run Chase of 98 and not the fans he grew up with in Oakland really hurt me. Not that that was his fault.
After the A's traded McGwire, I silently renounced my loyalty to the A's. I couldn't root for a team that traded my favorite player. Now, admittedly, I didn't have a backup team to fall back on. I guess you could say I was a free agent for about one year.
During the 1998 season, I spent a lot of my time with my best friend at the time, and he too was having a team loyalty crisis. He grew up in a Giants household, but at times, I knew him to be a fan of the Cubs, Mets and Yankees. It was his love of the Yankees that caught my eye. At the time, I wasn't aware of the hatred for the Bronx Bombers, but watching them on TV was awesome. So I stuck with the Yankees, and my best friend fell back to the Giants. But it was too late. I decided to stick with the Yankees.
Watching guys like Jeter and Tino and Bernie, they effectively signed me a Lifetime contract.
But, even if I hadn't renounced the A's after the Big Mac trade, chances are I would have kicked them to the curb in the last few years. I don't know how I'd be able to root for a team that continues to ship out, or elect not to re-sign, its best players, year after year. Rather than spend money they surely have, they trade players at the height of their popularity, or let players leave via free agency at the peak of their careers. Hudson and Mulder were traded at the height of the Big Three. Giambi and Tejada were allowed to walk away after winning MVP's. I don't know how A's fans continue to put up with the current management. This offseason, they traded away their two most popular players, Dan Haren and Nick Swisher. Were either close to free agency? No. Did either have a big contract? No. They were traded so that the A's could rebuild. Hello? Mr. Beane? Rebuild with Haren and Swisher!
So do I think a fan can renounce their team? Of course. But you better be damn sure about it. It needs to be a well thought-out decision. So if you're going to change loyalties, choose wisely. There is no bandwagon-jumping.

Take it easy,
Ali

I probably shouldn't have read that article...

2008-01-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

The day before I was to leave Bombay, I read an article on MSNBC.com about the worst airports in the world. I was already upset about leaving my family (and the warm weather), so reading that Shivaji Airport in Bombay and Liberty Airport in Newark rank as two of the worst airports in the world in terms of delays, didn't make me feel much better.

And, they lived up to the hype. Security was nutty in Bombay. The check-in process took at least 45 minutes. Immigration took 20 minutes, and I swear I was behind two guys that were trying to hide something. Don't know what it was, but they kept checking with each other on the reason for their visit to Bombay. I think they settled on "Business."
With the two security checkpoints that we were required to go through to get to our plane, there should be no way that anyone is able to sneak anything on the plane that shouldn't be there...except the bottle of orange juice that I had in my bag that made it all the way to New Jersey before the secutiry screener there said I wasn't allowed to have it in my bag and promptly threw it away. Another funny thing: The lady that went through secutiry before me in New Jersey had her bag searched because the screeners though she had a 12 inch wrench in her bag. When they opened her bag and opened the box in question, they found a 12 inch wrench...a 12 inch chocolate wrench. I guess if they make chocolate cigars, they can make chocolate wrenches.
Anyway, back to Bombay. It took people so long to get through the security process in Bombay, that our flight get off the ground 30 minutes after the schedule departure. That wasn't good news for me considering that I had only a 90 minute stop in New Jersey.
As expected, we landed about 20 minutes late in Jersey, and as we were taxiing to the gate, the captain stopped the plane, turned off the engines and said that we were going to have to be towed into the gate. We were scheduled to land at 5:25am EST, and I didn't get off the plane until about 6:10. By the title I got through Customs, it was 6:25. And I still hadn't claimed my bags and rechecked them. I was hoping that Continental would throw us a bone and hold the 7am flight, but I guess that was asking a bit too much. Who am I kidding. They don't even give Economy class those travel toothpastes (only 1st class gets that) so why should I have expected them to hold a half empty flight made even more empty by the lack of passengers coming from Bombay.
So I got my bags and, at 7:15, went to the Transfer Desk only to find out that they 8:45 flight was booked. So I had to wait until 11:45. And as compensation for missing my flight, I was given a $12 food voucher good at any of the fine eating establishments in the airport, like McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts or Ben and Jerry's, which were about the only things up at 7:30am. Of course the Steak House isn't open when I have house money.

With all of the said, I am home. While I'm happy to be home, and excited to get back to school, I do already miss my family. It's a good feeling to wake up in the morning and see women in the house, especially two women that remind me so much of my mom. I've been back 24 hours and I already miss that.

I didn't have any time over the last few days, so I've got a backlog of photos to post.

On the 17th, I went to Bandra with Mumtaz Aunty, Sarah's mom to see her uncle(my grandmother's brother) and his wife. On the way back to Colaba in the evening, we drove by the Mahim slums. It's amazing that people can live in these conditions. Even more amazing is that across the road from these slums were beautiful condos.

Something That really irritated me(Zahir found my irritation to be amusing) was that in preparation for the 5th annual Mumbai Marathon, city workers were painting crosswalks on the road. Anybody that's been to Bombay, or seen video Bombay for that matter, knows that people cross wherever they need to. You just wait for an opening in the traffic, and cross. If you told people there that they needed to walk to the end of the block and cross there, they'd start laughing...then cross the road. I thought it was just a waste of money and time to paint crosswalks on roads in Bombay.

While Bombay may be one of the quickest developing countries in the world, there is still loads of poverty. The slums are eye-popping. I had to do a double take when I saw those kids playing the trash(bottom photo).

I think the funniest thing I saw was this poor fella sleepin' on the back of a parked ambulance. But when you're tired, you'll sleep just about anywhere. Maybe that's why we have couches in the labs.

I've got sunset photos from my last evening, but I will post them later. Time to go to bed. Back to the business of work and school in morning.

Take it easy,
Ali

Public Display of Affection is Prohibited - 1/15/2008

2008-01-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Seriously people. Read the sign. Where do you think we are? America?
This is the area just behind my aunt's house. There is a tiny wall in front of the water that people sit on at night. India sure has changed over the last few years. Years ago, it was unheard of for couples to hold hands in public, let alone show any sort of affection towards each other. It's gotten so out-of-hand that there are sex advice columns in the daily Mumbai Mirror.

So my trip is winding down. I haven't posted anything in a few days because, well, I haven't accomplished much since late last week. There were days where we didn't leave the house. I wasn't too happy about it either of those days, but we were waiting for things to be delivered, so we really had no choice. The days I did leave the house, there was nothing interesting to photograph.

On Friday, I finally got to meet my cousin Sana, whom I hadn't really seen since 2001. We saw each other for about an hour on my first of these solo trips in 05-06. Last year, we just couldn't coordinate properly. This year, her brother Zain and I made a point to get together with Sana at least once. She has a new baby, 7-month-old Uzair, to go along with 5-year-old Naba. Naba was your typical 5-year-old, full of energy and attempting to get away with anything. Uzair was your typical toddler, crawling everywhere. And he took to the camera. He kept reaching for it and looking at it. He was a natural in front of the camera. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Uzair.

Today, we ventured to Kharghar, once again, in search of a new residence for Rahim. And once again, we're on the fence about the place we looked at today. It's a multi-level row house, rather than the single-level flats we've been looking at. Nice place. Crazy owner. Interesting possibilities. There is a chance that if Rahim and his buddy decide to take this place, that the owner could sell the garage area to a business person and allow them to run a food stand, or dance classes, out of the bottom level of Rahim's apartment. It'd be like having an apartment on top of a restaurant, and having to go through said restaurant to enter and leave your apartment. I would hope that they would at least give him free dinner when he comes home.

Anyway, this place was in a back alley off the main road. As we were walking back to the car, I saw these kids playing in the middle of the road. Not exactly ideal conditions for children to be running around in if you ask me. Behind me, there was a large mound of gravel and rocks that a couple kids kept running up.

The drive home was accompanied by a beautiful sunset. I may tell a few people that they are my best friends, but the truth is, the Sunset is my real best friend. To those select few, I'm sorry, but the truth had to come out sooner rather than later. These guys were playing cricket along the lake. They have their very own McCovey Cove.

The drive features miles and miles of open land...and powerlines. Not quite sure what the powerlines are powering.

Then there was a long stretch where we were basically chasing the sun. Even our Family friend Tushar, who was driving, kept asking me if he should stop so I could take pictures. It was that awesome.

Alright, well, that's all I got for now. I hope this makes up for the lack of posts over the weekend. Hopefully I'll have a few more photos to show you guys before I leave Sunday night. Rahim is finally coming back to spend a few days here. Fortunately or unfortunately, it's the last two days I'm here. The Mumbai Marathon is Sunday morning. Going to try to get up early and get some action shots.

Take it easy,
Ali

PS - Whatever you do, don't waste your money on the new National Treasure movie with Nicolas Cage. Absolutely worthless. Plot was horrible, and it felt like they tried to take pieces of the Bourne series, the Ocean's series and the Indiana Jones' series and make one mega movie. But it failed horribly. Horribly! I joked with Zahir and his friend Harsh, that the best scene was the last scene, which had nothing to do with the story line.

I love me some Steak Sizzler - 1/9/2008

2008-01-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Weeks prior to my trip, I couldn't stop thinking about, or for that matter, talking about the Steak Sizzlers at Kobe in Bombay. When Zahir kept telling me that he'd pay me back for all the things I brought him, I told him to just take me to Kobe once or twice. That would more than make up for everything. Well, while we've talked about going to Kobe almost every night I've been here, Zahir's work schedule hasn't allowed him to get home early enough to go.
So when my cousin Zain (from my dad's family) said he wanted to take me out for dinner tonight and mentioned that there was another sizzler place, Yoko Sizzlers, in Fort near all the banks, I knew that was the place we had to go. I ordered the pepper steak. Ya, it's that good. They give a lot of fries and the piece of steak is pretty big, although you can't see it in the photo because there is a mountain of fries. You have to eat a lot of the fries before you can even start on the steak. So by the time you get to the steak, you've already eaten a lot. Eventually, and sadly, I had to sacrifice the fries in order to finish the steak, which I did. Good stuff. Now I Zahir and I have to go to Kobe next week. You can put good money on the fact that I will be skipping breakfast and lunch that day.

After Zain and I left Yoko, he took me for a joyride by the Gateway of India. Unfortunately, the Gateway is having some surgery done, so they've fenced the entire area off. But don't tell that to the horses pulling the Victorian carriages. Even though the biggest tourist attraction in the city is closed, they still have to work down there. This horse needed to refuel. Should have bought him a Yoko Sizzler.

One of the funnier things I've seen here (and I've seen some crazy things) happened while we were driving through downtown Colaba. In front of us was one of those horse-drawn carriages, going fairly slowly (maybe the horse was low on fuel?). All of a sudden, these two kids, one boy and one girl, probably no more than 10 years old each run by our slow-moving car. At first, I couldn't figure out where they were running to, but when they got to their destination, I couldn't help but laugh...and take photos.
They had caught up with the carriage, and grabbed onto a bar on the back of the carriage and pulled themselves onto the axle of the carriage.
Yep, they were hitchhiking on the back axle of a horse-drawn carriage.
I wish we could have stayed behind them to see how they got off the carriage.

So I'm looking forward to Friday Night. I'm finally going to get to see my cousin Sana, Zain's sister. She's 31, married and has two kids. She moved out of our big house a few years back, so the last two years when I've come here, I haven't had a chance to meet up with her. But Zain and I made a point of it to set something up with her tonight. She has a six month old baby boy, and anyone that knows me knows that I love kids, so I'm counting the minutes until Friday afternoon.

Alright, it's 1am. Zahir is still at work. I know! He's got a hard deadline which has to be met, so he's supposedly staying at the office until 4am to finish his work. This is what happens when you love you work. I forgot to mention that he left the house at about 11am, oh 14 hours ago. Talk about graveyard shift.

Time to go to sleep.

Take it easy,
Ali

P.S. - Big game for the Warriors tonight against the Blazers. Whoda'thunkit that the Warriors and the Blazers in January would be a big game.

A lil ole threat can't stop me - 1/7/2008

2008-01-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

The chance that you guys are following the news in Bombay is slim to none, unless it was something major.
The news of a Buddhist monk being murdered in a town called Chembur, which is somewhere between here (Colaba) and Kharghar, was an incident that set up minor rioting/protesting in some small rural towns on Sunday. Things were lit on fire, but not a whole lot came of the protests.
This afternoon, we got a call from Rahim, saying that there were more riots today in Chembur, and that there may be some activity closer to us. We kept checking every news channel, but nobody was reporting any rioting anywhere. In fact, I've been checking the websites all evening, and still, no one is reporting anything.
Anyway, after Rahim called us to warn about possible riots in Bombay, my first natural instinct was to ask our family friend, Tushar, if he would take me to the major areas that we frequently go to so I could take pictures. And of course, the natural instinct of Shehnaz Aunty was to say 'NO.' She said to me, "What do I say to your dad if something happens to you? Where do I get another Ali?"
So I was under strict orders to stay in the house.
Until about 4pm when we needed to go to a section of town called Opera House to pay for a microwave that my aunt had ordered from the India Consumer Exhibition we had gone to on Sunday.
I guess the police felt like something might happen, so they were out directing traffic. And this was rush hour, so people were everywhere. It wasn't crazy, but it was crowded. After we paid for her microwave, we walked around and got some snacks from the stands on the side of the road. My aunt has always warned me not to take out my camera. She's scared someone will "flick" it. But I took it out while we were waiting for our orders to be made. Some people looked at me for a minute, trying to figure out what I was doing. Then I started taking photos of the guys making our food and they instantly took a liking to me. I started taking photos of this guy making this sweet thing which was covered in honey. They were fascinated by my camera and after I took each photo, I showed them the picture I had just taken. As I was walking away to go take more photos, the guy handed me a free sample. Pretty good stuff, although it was really sweet, even for me. My cousin told me the name of the food, but I forgot what it already. This photo is of the guy throwing the pastry into the honey batter.

After we got our orders from that side of the road, Samira and Tushar wanted to get some indian burgers from the other side of the road. That meant crossing a busy thoroughfare during rush hour. Kinda like frogger. The food they were getting was taking a while to make, so I told Shehnaz Aunty that I wanted to go back to the center divide and take photos of the traffic and chaos. She agreed, but of course, had to tell me to be careful because somebody riding in one of the buses might reach out the window and "flick" my camera.
Crossing the road is basically a timing thing. You've got to leave the center divide at the right time. The cars will not stop for you and they don't slow down. Usually, they miss your back foot by inches. If you slow up at the last second thinking your safe, you could very easily lose a foot.
I saw these girls getting ready to cross while a couple cars were bunched up around a bus. Tried to use the light from the headlights to rim light them.

This evening, Zahir and I wanted to go out and meet some of his friends. When we told Shehnaz Aunty we were leaving, she yelled at us and told that there was rioting going on and they we needed to stay home. Finally, she just let us go, saying that if something happens to us, she's not responsible. Well, to say the least, nothing happened. In fact, it was pretty dead outside. There weren't as many people out as there usually is. We met his friends at Barista, which is their coffee shop here.

For all the fuss about riots and whatnot, it was extremely quiet. Maybe it's the calm before the storm. I'm not sure. I guess we'll find out.

Alright, it's past 2am here. The BCS Title game is starting in a few hours. Debating whether or not to get up and listen to it on the internet. I said I would if LSU and OSU made it to the game, but now I'm thinking sleep might be more important.

Take it easy,
Ali

Streets of Bombay - 1/5/2008

2008-01-05T11:04:00.000-08:00

So today, I spent the day with my cousin Zahir. We went to his relatively new office in Shivri, which is about 30 minutes from our house. The building is in a pretty rural area. The drive there takes you through an area that looks like slums. Now, my cousins will tell you that from the outside, these looks like slums, but on the inside, these 'buildings' are pretty well furnished. I guess when you see satellites on top of the roofs, you have to believe them on some level.

One thing you'll notice about this area is that there are a lot of kids. Most of them are unattended to.

Then there are the sights that still fascinate me. I love seeing the horse-drawn Victorian carriages. But seeing the bulls and cows that rule the roads is still one of my favorite things to observe when I come here.

A place I've always wanted to check out, but have never stopped to explore is the Central Library as you exit Colaba. Everytime we pass it in the car, I just stare at the steps. I keep telling myself that I can get some really cool photos using the steps, but every time we go by it, we're usually en route somewhere, so there is never time to stop. But at night, it's a damn cool sight to see it lit up and people treating the steps like a beach, just hanging out with friends.

Today was a fun day in terms of taking photos. I like take photos that give you guys a sense of what Bombay looks like. While it is one of those "up-and-coming cities," Bombay still has a lot of those rural characteristics, and I think they are interesting to see, especially for people that haven't been here. There is a combination of the rural, the modern and the classic. When you go to Churchgate, you are surrounded by all the Victorian buildings that the British built. There are a lot of state-out-the-art malls popping up everywhere. They are even modernizing Bandra, which I never thought would look good. But somehow, I'm impressed with what has become of the rural city. You get to see a lot of different things throughout Bombay. Every few blocks there is something different. Each area has its own characteristics. I enjoy seeing all these different settings and I love being able to bring you guys there, even if it is briefly.

I hope everybody has a good weekend. It's about 1:15am on Sunday, so it's about time to go to bed.

Take it easy,
Ali

Getting back to the business at hand...sports...

2008-01-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

And specifically, why, for the last 10 years, I have not been a fan of the Oakland Athletics.
All those people that spent $20 on Nick Swisher jersey-shirts must now find a new player to support.
Just when Swisher was becoming a leader and a fan-favorite in Oakland, Billy Beane gets rid of him.
This is absurdity at its highest point.
With Danny Haren and Swisher, you had a chance to compete in the AL West, or at least for the AL Wild Card. But by trading away your two best players, you've conceded the 2008 season and probably the 2009 season.
I've never believed Beane when he has said that his #1 goal is to win. If his top priority was to win games (and ultimately World Series), he would not trade away Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Dan Haren and Nick Swisher at such young ages.
The Haren trade still baffles me. It's not like he was going to be a free agent after the 2008 season. Beane had locked him up for the next 4 seasons! And at a discounted price.
Sure, Beane may get some of baseball's best prospects in return for the established players he deals away. But is the point of baseball to develop players to a certain point, then deal them for as many prospects as you can? Or is the point of baseball to develop players to help you win Championships? I think it's the latter.
Until Beane can develop players and win with them, I wont jump on the bandwagon that says he is the best General Manager in baseball. Sorry, just not going to happen. He hasn't won anything in my eyes. Once he wins something with the owner-imposed salary cap and with his players, don't tell me he's a great GM. Yes, he's good at taking his star players and dealing them for the whole kit-and-kaboddle, but what does he have to show for it? At some point, you have to stop "building for the future" and let "the future" show that they can win. At some point, you have to stop pointing to one year, saying that this is our one chance and if we don't win this year, we'll blow everything up. Show some patience. Show some faith in your players.
A few years from now, after the A's still haven't won anything, he will probably take a Carlos Gonzalez or a Gio Gonzalez and flip them for a couple of up-and-coming prospects. And he will gain more praise. But for what? Being able to haggle three or four unproven players out of another GM.
I've said it for years, and I will continue to say it: Billy Beane is nothing until he wins a World Series.

Happy New Year - 1/3/2008

2008-01-03T00:07:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say that I have some great photos to post, but I haven't been able to get out and shoot a lot of stuff. My family is very protective of me, making it hard to convince them to let me go out and photograph.
I've tried contacting the people running the project to cut down those trees, but they haven't responded. My cousin Zahir said he'd call some journalists he knows, but there's been some family issues that have arisen that have understandably made my requests his last priority.
I would have had one of the more amazing sunset photos, but a certain Aunt would not let my uncle pull the car over so that I could get out for 2 minutes to take the photo.

On the way back from Bandra on Sunday night, there was major, major traffic. We think we have bad traffic, but this takes the cake. It took two hours to get back to my house in Cuffe Parade. It shouldn't take more than an hour on a normal day.
Anyway, the point of this story is that the traffic was so bad that an Ambulance, with its lights flashing and sirens blarring, could not find room to get through. Cars had nowhere to go. They couldn't pull over to let the Ambulance to get to wherever it needed to go. We don't know if they had somebody in the Ambulance or if they were on the way to pick somebody up, but either way, the traffic may have prevented someone from living. Crazy stuff.

So it happened again. A woman was groped and molested on New Years Eve in Bombay. Last year, it was the big story. This year, it happened near Juhu Beach, which is one of the best beaches in the area. It happened as the women and their dates where leaving some 5-star hotel. A big group of men started talking trash to the women, so one of the girls cursed at him, then the group of men pounced on them. Somehow, there were two photographers from the Mumbai Mirror newspaper at the scene and one of them got a shot of one of the guys pulling up the dress of one of the girls.
The photographers took their photos to the police and helped lead to the arrest of several suspects, but now, amazingly, the two girls refuse to file police reports and want the police to leave them alone, meaning that the suspects in custody may be let out without punishment.

Surprisingly, Bombay wasn't very crowded on New Years Eve. Samira believes that around 75% of the people that are usually roaming around went out of town for the weekend.
After our New Years dinner, we went for a drive along Marine Drive, the major road along the water. We missed most of the fireworks while we were trying to get to Marine Drive.
We kept going past this car with these two small girls that were shouting 'Happy New Year,' so I took some photos of them. The funny part was, the girl in the backseat loved the camera, but the girl in the front seat would look at me, say 'Happy New Year' but then cover her face when I was taking photos.

Went to Churchgate today with my aunt and cousin to do some business stuff, shop and eat. Here are a couple picture of the many churches.

That's about it for now. Saw on CNN last night that oil prices are over $100 for the first time. Samira and I were talking about how much people are going to start complaining because gas prices are going to shoot up now. The reports last night already had prices going up 4 rupees per liter here.

Take it easy,
Ali

Eventful Two Days - 12/30/2007

2007-12-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

So last year, a major political player in the region was killed (Saddam Hussein). This year, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on Thursday.
I didn't know much about Bhutto, and until she came out exile a few months ago, I honestly didn't know idea who she was. And I don't know much about the politics within Pakistan, so I wont act as if I do. But she was a progressive politician trying to spread democracy in a region that may not want change. She was educated in the West and the people that hate Western civilizations feared her winning the elections next week. Since I didn't know much about her, I hadn't really formed an opinion on her. I hadn't decided whether I liked her or not. I don't know how to weigh the corruption accusations. But if she was truly about spreading democracy and equality throughout a region that isn't know for those two things, then she couldn't have been all that bad. I've seen major world leaders die, but this is the first assassination I've witnessed, and it's a fairly scary thing. You never think something like this can happen in an age of high security. And I've had to try and figure out how my family feels about this. They have a lot more knowledge of the politics in the region, so they have defined opinions of who they like and dislike. I still can't tell how they felt about Bhutto, but they do think the Pakistan Govt had something to do with her death rather than al Qaeda. I tend to agree that I don't think al Qaeda had anything to do with it. They will take credit for just about anything.
The photojournalist in me was hoping that there would be some protests or gatherings to mourn Bhutto around Bombay, but I didn't hear of anything. Oh well.

So the reason why I haven't posted in a few days is because my cousin didn't pay the internet bill, so the internet was cut for a few days. We finally got it back this morning, but I was out of the house all day.

Friday morning, I woke up fairly early and was about to catch the sun coming up. Brought back memories of waking up with my mom and watching the sun come up. The only difference is that we were watching from my grandmother's house, whereas I was at my aunts house.

Speaking of my grandmother, I visited her for the first time on Friday.

My cousin Samira and I went to see her. And while I love her to death, I can't help but feel frustrated with how stubborn she is. The girl that she has looking after her is about as useless a human being you will find on this planet. All she is good for is lying and taking advantage of my grandmother, and playing all of us for fools. My grandmother has about a half dozen or more medications that are prescribed to her, and she's supposed to be taking most of them daily. When Samira and I opened her medicine box, we found enough medicine for about two months. In the case of some of her medicines, there was enough for three months. I've said it many times, but if I could speak Hindi, I'd have ripped into that girl three years ago. I've told Nani that this girl isn't helping her, but she refuses to get rid of her. Nani hasn't taken her heart medicine in nearly two months, and she hasn't had her calcium pills in nearly as long, yet this girl is checking off on the schedule that Nani is having her pills. The girl isn't too bright because she never got rid of the pills.
But it was really sad to see my grandmother practically crying when Samira and I told her that we were going to have to tell my aunt that she wasn't taking her medicine. It was like one of those scenes when a child breaks something and doesn't want there parents to find out because of the fear of being yelled at. Except this was the mother scared of her child doing the yelling.
There's only so many times I can come here and watch this girl basically whittle away the life of my last remaining grandparent. Each of the last three years, I've told Nani she needs to get rid of this girl, that she is no good. Last year, this girl wasn't feeding her proper meals. Now she's not giving Nani her medicine.
I've always loved going to Bandra and spending time with my grandmother, holding her hand and spending time with her, but when somebody refuses to listen to you about something so serious and refuses to make the requisite changed to improve her life, it makes the visits tough.
But I love her. I don't like to give up on people. And my mom wouldn't be happy if I gave up on her mother.

So I've been looking for stories here that i might be able to photograph and send back to the photo editors for the first issue of the school paper next semester. I was given some ideas but I felt like I hadn't started soon enough, so I figured that finding a hard-hitting topic which required special access would be too difficult (may next year). I decided that I would just come here and find a story in the news and see if something comes of it. Talking with one of next semesters editors, Amanda, she suggested that I try and localize a story here in Bombay to San Francisco. She suggested finding some groups that might be in Bombay but were organized in California.
Anyway, I've been checking the three papers we get at the house and cnn-ibn.com regularly, and I think I found the story I want to pursue. It's not a breaking news story, but it can related back to San Francisco on some level.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/1200_trees_face_axe_for_city_projects/articleshow/2654059.cms
Since the internet had been down for the last two days at my cousins house, I haven't been about to do any research into where these trees might be or when the chopping might happen, but I think this story relates back to us because San Francisco was deemed the Greenist city and because of the whole tree squatting protest going on in Berkeley. My cousin said he knows a few journalists and that he will make a few calls for me. Hopefully I can find something before I head home.
Next year, I'll plan better and shoot for the heavy story.

This year, I've been a little more hesitant to take pictures of "mumbaikers." Don't know why exactly. Might be that I was told that while the photos I took last year were good on some level, they weren't photojournalistic photos. But it might also be because I feel bad for the people that I see. Last year, I just shot unconsciously, but this year, while I see things that I want to photograph, I just can't bring myself to press the shutter button.
I was hanging out with Zahir and his friend Ashu and Karl last night and the street lighting was cool. Even after midnight, there were taxis available and one of the drivers was just standing around. I think the photo came out pretty well.

Today, we went back to Kharghar to meet with the owners of one of the apartments that Rahim liked. On the way back, we made another pit stop at Center One and I did some shopping. Picked up a few small gifts.
Tomorrow, I am going with my aunt and uncle to pick up Sarah's mom from the airport. Her flight lands at 11:30. Hopefully we'll go to Bandra and I'll get to meet all my aunts on that side of the family. A couple of them have been calling me here trying to find out when I'm coming to see them.

Alright, well, it's 1:30 on Sunday morning, and I'm tired and I have to be up soon. More later.

Take it easy,
Ali

'Flat Hunting' in Kharghar - 12/26/07

2007-12-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

Greetings. I spent Day Two with my aunt and two of my cousins in Kharghar looking for a new apartment for my cousin Rahim. This place is about an hour and half outside of Bombay, and the best way to describe it is a bunch of apartment complexes in the middle of nowhere. It's so out there that there are designated times during the day when there is no electricity. The place that Rahim lives in right now has no power from 10am to noon, and 2pm to 4pm. We were sitting in his bedroom with the fan on full blast when all of a sudden, it stopped. You know you're roughing it when there are specific blackouts every day.
While I know that the goal of a photojournalist is to get up close and personal with the subject and find the bigger story, I honestly think some of the best, or rather, most interesting photos you can take can actually come from a moving car. There are things that you see while riding around that you never see in the States. I wish I had the photos to prove it, but my aunt had the Air Conditioner on in the car and she wouldn't let me roll down the window, so I was limited in the pictures I could take. But I saw a child, no more that 13 years old, steering a bull-drawn carriage and whipping the bull. On the drive home, I saw a guy sleeping the back of a cargo rickshaw. It may not be the idealistic photos that professional photographers want to see, but I think they are just as telling about the country and the culture.
So on the way home, we stopped at one of the new malls, Center One, to eat. I'm still amazed by the amount of the Christmas decorations I've seen. I just wasn't aware that Christmas was such a big deal in a country made up of Hindus and Muslims.

This was the scene inside the mall. They had Christmas trees and presents hanging from the ceiling. Funny thing is, during my both of my Photojournalism classes, we've gone over where you can and can't shoot, in terms of permission. We've been told that we aren't allowed to shoot in malls, and apparently, the rule carries over to India, because after about 10 minutes, I was approached by a police women who told me that I wasn't allowed to take photos in the mall. She wasn't rude, and when I told her I'd put the camera away, she walked away. Chances are if this had happened in the States, they would have tried to get me to delete the photos.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to go to Bandra to see my grandmother. Amazing how when I made my trip at the end of 2005, the main reason was because her health wasn't very good and we weren't sure if she would make it to the summer of 2006, which is when I really wanted to go. Now, it's 2007, going on 2008, and while her short term memory is gone, she's still going strong.

Have a good Wednesday everybody.

Take it easy,
Ali

Greetings from 9,000 miles away - 12/25/07

2007-12-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

So I just got to India a few hours ago. The weather is great. 77 degrees at 10:30 when I got out of the airport.
The plane rides were fine. The flight from Newark to Bombay was 14 hours, and to make matters worse, the battery on my ipod ran out about half way through the flight.
While we were boarding the flight in Newark, one of the ladies conducting the boarding process was stunned when everybody rushed the gate rather than waiting for there row to be called. We started talking and she asked me why everybody was in such a rush to board a 14 hour flight. I told her that this is the Indian way. There is no sense of organization. But the real reason everybody was rushing the gate was to make sure they were able to get there bag in the overhead compartments. About a week ago, I thought my flight may have been delayed due to weather. Never did I think my flight would be delayed due to the passengers taking forever to store their bags in the overhead compartment.

Tomorrow, I am going with my aunt to visit my cousin Rahim about 90 minutes away.

I hope everybody is having a good Christmas. I was surprised that there were so many Christmas decorations in Bombay. I'm hoping to go to Bandra in the next few days because I've been told that there is quite an elaborate Christmas setup that I'd like to photograph.

Until next time, take it easy,
Ali

Etch-It-In-Stone #3: Santana will stay in Twin Cities...for good.

2007-12-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

This time last week, the perception was that Johan Santana would be a part of the Yankees collection of $20 million players.
This time yesterday, the feeling was that he was about to turn the Red Sox into an even bigger juggernaut for the next half dozen years.
The Yankees had the best offer on the table. Phil Hughes has been widely considered the best pitching prospect in baseball. The only player the Red Sox have that is of equal talent and ceiling is Clay Buchholz, and the Sox said he was off limits from day one. The Red Sox were willing to part with Jon Lester, but he's not close to the same talent as Hughes.
When the Twins didn't accept Hughes, Melky Cabrera and a prospect from the Yankees, I had a gut feeling that they wouldn't trade him. At the July trade deadline, every team that talked to the Yankees wanted Hughes. Now, when the Twins had the chance to get him, plus an above average center fielder and possibly a 5-tool talent in Austin Jackson, they turn it down, to me that signals that they are expecting too much in return for Santana.
Santana may be the best pitcher in baseball, and for that, the Twins should receive a bounty of talent for him. But he doesn't have a contract after the 2008 season, so since the team receiving him has to throw down a hefty chunk of change to keep Santana, that drives down the price they should have to pay for him. Twins GM Bill Smith needs to understand that.
Personally, I wouldn't give up arguably the best pitching prospect in baseball, and then have to give Santana $150 million over six years. I'd just as soon take my chances with Hughes and save $24 million a year.
When the Yankees pulled out of trade talks on Monday night, that was another thing that made me feel like he wouldn't be traded. The Red Sox may want Santana just as badly as the Yankees, but they can't financially take him. Sure they may have the budget right now, but if they trade for him, they'd have to give him the $150 million he wants. That's all fine and dandy until 2007 Cy Young runner-up Josh Beckett comes knocking on GM Theo Epstein's door asking for a pay raise from the $10 million he's going to make over the next two years.
No pitcher has ever made more than $20 million in a season, so I don't think the Red Sox are too eager to have two pitchers in the same rotation making over $20 million. Chances are Beckett would want something similar to Santana's deal. Two pitchers making a combined $50 million is absurd, even for the Yankees and Red Sox.

My money is on the Twins keeping Santana, and not just for this season. I have a feeling Twins management will find a way to pay him. After all, Twins owner Carl Pohlad is one of the richest owners in baseball. And with the new stadium opening in a few years, they will have a lot more revenue money coming in.
You heard it here first, Santana will stay with Minnesota beyond 2008. The money may not be what he wants, but I think he will get enough to make him the highest paid pitcher in baseball.

Death Comes with a Heartfelt Message

2007-12-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

Very few things shake us like death. Death stops us in our tracks.
The sports world was hit with two prominent losses in the last week that froze me.
Joe Kennedy, a free-agent pitcher who played for Oakland, Arizona and Toronto last season, passed away at the young age of 28. He had a wife, a 1-year-old kid, and his wife was pregnant with their second kid. Those two children are going to grow up without knowing their father. That’s the kind of heartbreaking news within a story that brings out the emotion in me.
Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. to an analyst on ESPN2 saying “we have some sad news…” and he went on to break the news that Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, all of 24 years old, had died from complications to a gunshot wound he received 24 hours earlier when someone tried to break into his Florida home.
Anybody that knows me will tell you I love sports, maybe a little too much. I take wins and losses pretty seriously. After I spend almost 12 hours on a Saturday watching college football, I feel like these athletes have become a part of my extended family. Sort of like distant cousins you know exist, but you never physically meet.
So whenever an athlete dies, I take it a lot harder than everyone else.
Taylor’s death upset me because I honestly liked Taylor as a player. He was a dominant Free Safety, which is a position on the football field that I love. Taylor’s job was to sit back and strike when the ball was in the air. My dad asked me if he was a good player and emphatically, I said he was a great player.
ESPN.com’s Marwan Maalouf broke down Taylor’s skills in a recent blurb for Scouts Inc., saying “Not only were Taylor's coverage skills exceptional, he brought a physical mentality and toughness that was well respected around the league. A devastating hitter, Taylor wanted to leave his mark in every game by letting receivers know that they had better think twice about going up for a ball in front of him.”
When I see coverage of the memorials that Washington fans are holding for Taylor, I have to fight back a few tears. He was only a kid, just one year older than me.
But I think we can learn something from Kennedy’s death, though. As of right now, everything about his death is speculation, but the people close to him believe he had an enlarged heart and that probably played a role in his death.
According to WebMD.com, there are three types of an enlarged heart and many people who suffer from any of the variations don’t have symptoms. The only version that lists “sudden death” as a possible symptom is Hypertropic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), so I’m assuming that this is the variation that Kennedy had, if in fact he had an enlarged heart.
Kennedy isn’t the only athlete to die from an enlarged heart recently. Earlier this month, Olympic Marathon runner Ryan Shay, 28 years old, collapsed, and later died, during a Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials event in New York City. After the tragic event, his father revealed that when Ryan was 14, he had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart.
HCM is something that runs through a family history, or can associated with high-blood pressure. Hopefully, enough people will see the stories of Shay and Kennedy, and take a look in the mirror, and get checked out for form of Heart Disease. If these athletes, in pretty good physical condition can die from something like this at such a young age, then I think more people can.
If anything good can possibly come from these deaths, I would hope that the mainstream media would work together with a heart disease awareness group, and get the message out to viewers and athletes, and advise them to get regular check-ups. The deaths of Kennedy and Shay should warn people that you don’t have to be on the downswing of life to have heart problems.

My BCS Outlook, as of Monday, November 26th, 2007

2007-12-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

By a show of hands, I’d like to know how many people had the Missouri Tigers as the #1-ranked team in the polls heading into the final week of the College Football regular season. Anybody?
I imagine if I asked that to a room of 100 college football fans, everyone in the room would be looking around to see if any hands were in the air.
I hope everyone enjoys watching Missouri and West Virginia duke it out for the National Championship on January 7th. I’ll be enjoying the comfort of a bed 9,000 miles away.
For the third straight year, I will in India when the National Championship is decided. And this year, I will not be scrambling to find a way to tune into the game. I will be sleeping like a baby and I won’t shed a tear when I wake up.
Missouri and West Virginia just doesn’t get my blood pumping like USC and Texas two years ago. That was a match-up we saw coming for weeks. USC and Texas were 1-2, respectively, in every week of the BCS standings that year, except for Week 8, when Texas was #1 and USC was #2. USC was dubbed “the greatest team ever” by the mass media and the Vince Young-led Longhorns weren’t supposed to have a chance to win the game.
Don’t get me wrong, I like watching both teams run their offenses. I wish more teams used Missouri’s Run and Shoot offense. I’d love to see more teams spread five Wide Receivers out on every play. And the speed of West Virginia, with Pat White, Steve Slaton and Noel Divine, make them extremely entertaining to watch.
But the Tigers and the Mountaineers just doesn’t have the punch to make me get up at 5 a.m. this year.
What would cause me to wake up at such an odd hour while on my vacation?
A rather complicated scenario, actually. Follow me on this.
The simple part involves Missouri losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship and West Virginia losing to Pittsburgh on Saturday, thus eliminating both from the title picture. Ohio State, needing just one of those two teams to lose, would claim one of two vacant spots.
Now here’s is where things get tricky, and a little wishful thinking comes into play.
Watching ESPN’s BCS expert Brad Edwards recently, he went over the possible scenarios in order for LSU, the team I still feel is the best team in the nation, to make the National Championship game.
Right now, LSU is #7 in the rankings. They need Mizzou and WVU to lose. Then they need to handle their business in the SEC Championship game against Tennessee. Their chances are greatly improved if Boston College can beat Virginia Tech in the Big East title game, but VaTech doesn’t necessarily have to lose.
If all of this happens, the voters would have no choice but put LSU above Kansas and Georgia, both idle. If Missouri, West Virginia and Virginia Tech all lose this weekend, that leaves Ohio State and LSU as the last teams standing.
Now that would get me up at an ungodly time during my vacation.

******************************

After all the event of last night, it seems as though my wish will come true, and I may actually be waking up very early in the morning on January 11th in Bombay. I had a massive headache last night, so I slept through the Mizzou-Ou game and the West Virginia-Pitt game. When I woke up, my dad broke the news to me. I was too out of it to put everything together, but now it looks like LSU will leapfrog VaTech in the rankings today.

Good Riddence to a Loser and a Quitter

2007-10-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

So the Red Sox just won the World Series again. I didn't think this day could get any worse. Then there's the breaking news that Alex Rodriguez, the man that had finally won over the fans of New York and proclaimed his love of playing in New York, has decided to opt out of the final three years of his contract.
As a diehard Yankee fan, I was devestated when I first saw the A-Rod news. Then I read the reported reasons. My mood changed to 'to hell with A-Rod.'
The article on ESPN.com says that A-Rod opted out because of the uncertainty of the free agents of the Yankees. The players he's all of a sudden concerned about are Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte.
So logically, to show your concern, the best thing to do is to bail on them?
Listen Alex (and Mr. Boras, if you'd like, you can listen to), if you were really concerned about whether the Yankees brought those players back, you should have called all three of them up and said "if you come back, I will come back. We have something good here, so let's keep it together."
You're not fooling anybody. You don't give a hoot about Jorge, Mo or Andy. All you and Scott care about is having the biggest contract in sports. Now that David Beckham has a $250 million contract, you feel the need to top that, even though technically, your current contract was worth more when you signed it.
You're not fooling us. You never cared about any of the players on the Yankees.
This is a perfect example of why Derek Jeter will always be twice the man you'll ever hope to be. Derek will go to Jorge, Mo and Andy and tell them the right move is to come back. He's not going to go to Cashman and say "I'm worried about Jorge, Mo and Andy not coming back, so before you attempt to re-sign them, I want to be traded." Derek would go on recruiting trips for Cashman if he was asked to.
Alex, I hope you find happiness in whichever city you decide to go to. But remember, for as long as you live, you will be remembered as a loser and a quitter in New York. That's something nobody can live down, even if you hit 800 home runs.

Take it easy,
Ali

There is Hope after all

2007-10-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

A little over three weeks ago, I called for the firing of Greg Ryan, the coach of the U.S. Women's soccer team, after he benched the current and unscored upon goalie, Hope Solo, for the grizzlie veteran, Briana Scurry. I wonder if someone read that posting.
If only I had that kind of influence.
Either way, come January 1st, Ryan wont have to decide between Solo and Scurry.
When the goal of the team is to win every game, and a decision made by the coach costs his team a chance to win, the coach has to go. It was the right move, and I commend U.S. soccer president Sunil Gulati for doing what was right for the team.
I defended Solo and her comments, and by firing Ryan, Gulati backed up his goalie. Most people in the media ripped Solo for speaking out, but she was right, and this move proves it.

Take It Easy,
Ali

George, back from the dead...

2007-10-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS: George Steinbrenner is, somehow, still alive!

Yes folks, The Boss, is still here. And today, he announced his resurrection with a profound bang.

If the Yankees don't win the next three game, start with the game starting momentarily, Joe Torre will be looking for a new job, just like Jim Tracy and possibly Tony La Russa.

I've been a huge supporter of The Boss over the years. I think he has been unfairly criticized by the media and fans of other teams for his spending. It's his money, there is no salary cap in baseball, so stop whining.

I've loved just about everything about George. The win-or-else mentality. The spend-at-all-costs way of doing business.
But I hate how he puts all the blame on Joe Torre. No other manager would be able to do the job that Torre does. No other manager, not even Sweet Lou Pinella, would have been able to get this year's Yankees out of the rut they were in at the end of May. Torre stayed calm, knowing that eventually the stockpile of talent on the team would wake up.
Torre has the respect of these Yankees. They trust him. He has a bond with Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera that a new manager will not have, and probably will never have. The other veterans are comfortable with Torre, and firing him would be a colossal mistake.

Hopefully, this is just a scare tactic in an attempt to light a fire under the Yankees, who are on the brink of elimination. With the hole the Yankees have dug themselves, it probably wont work, and George will have put himself into a position where he has to fire Torre.

Yankees fans need to hope for one of three things to happen:
1. The Yankees stage a miracle comeback by winning three straight, including a Game 5 in Gnat-Land.
2. Brian Cashman grows a set of onions, and publicly backs Torre, stating that Torre isn't going anywhere. And lastly...
3. Before he has a chance to hand Torre his pink slip, Steinbrenner dies, thus bringing sanity back to the Bronx Bombers.

Sadly, I don't think either of those three things will happen, and a combination of Steinbrenner sticking by his words and Torre finally being fed up with having his job dangled in front of the Yankees playoff success, will part ways.
The Yankees will then bring back Torre on Opening Day 2008, where he will get the longest standing ovation in recent memory. Following that, there will be a long chant of "Fuck You George" by the Yankee faithful, showing their support for Torre.

I saw the future of the Warriors flash before my eyes late last night...

2007-10-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

...Thankfully, the future remains bright.
Last night, the top headline on ESPN.com was a breaking news story from Hawaii, where the Warriors are holding their training camp. The story said that Monta Ellis, the 21-year-old diamond in the rough, had hurt his neck during a drill, and lay prone on the ground for over 20 minutes. Reports from eye witnesses said that he had no movement in his arms and legs.

It took a while, but the Chronicle finally put something up on SFGate. Janny Hu, who was at the practice, said that Monta fell and hit his head on the hip of Brendan Wright.
The news left me with a heavy heart. Anytime we see a player suffer an injury involving the neck, we instantly think the worst. My first thought when I saw that he had hurt his neck and had no movement was that at 21, his career was over.
I'm not a religious man, but I was praying for him as I went to bed.

When I woke up, and turned on ESPN, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was the scroll on the bottom of the screen. I managed to read the last part which read something along the lines of "left hospital under own power." I didn't have to see the rest of the scroll. I knew it was about Monta. The biggest sense of relief came over me.

When it comes to sports, neck injuries terrify me. Torn tendons in a players elbow or knee can heal with surgery and inactivity. Concussions take time, but the player gets over it (until he gets hit hard again...see Steve Young) and broken bones mend themselves. But serious neck injuries can be life changing injuries. Players may walk again, but it can take years, and usually, the effects are noticable. Think Kyle Brady, Adam Taliaferro, and now, Kevin Everett. Time will tell what kind of effects Everett's injury will have on him. Doctor's think he'll walk again, but the chances are slim as to whether he'll ever play again.
Monta Ellis should be saying a million prayers, and thanking his lucky stars he doesn't have to start planning rehab assignments in order to walk again.

Solo by herself, but I'm with her

2007-09-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm not a big soccer fan. I've tried really hard to make it a sport that I care about, but I just can't get past the lack of action.
But when the World Cup, Men's or Women's, starts, I find myself paying quite a bit of attention. As was the case this past week when the USA Women made it to the semifinals to play Brazil. I figured that it would be a good match-up.
Since I don't really follow the day-to-day news of soccer, I had no idea that Briana Scurry, the goalie for the USA for the better part of the last decade, had been replaced by a younger, better goalie, Hope Solo. From everything I heard on ESPN, Solo was playing really well during the tournament, and hadn't allowed a goal in over three games.
Then, after the U.S. wins their quarterfinal match, with Solo patrolling the net, coach Greg Ryan decides to replace Solo at goalie with Scurry. Scurry hadn't played a full game in about three months, and Solo was playing shutout, shutdown goal tending.
It's one thing to do this if the match is just an International Friendly or an exhibition, but you don't make this kind of a move in the semifinals of the World Cup.
Some of the reasoning I heard from ESPN analysts was that Scurry had a great record against Brazil, and Solo had never faced them. My problem with that reasoning is that Scurry accumulated her sterling record against Brazil in the late 1990's and the early part of this decade. And just because Solo has never faced Brazil doesn't mean she can't stop them. We're never going to know if she can stop Brazil until she faces them.
I woke up at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning to find Brazil up 2-0 at halftime, with the U.S. already looking defeated. Scurry looked old, and Solo looked pissed on the sideline. When the match ended with the U.S. on the losing end of a 4-0 score, Solo walked off the field, practically in tears. And I don't blame her.
After the match, a reporter stuck his microphone under the nose of an upset Solo and he got an honest reaction from her. She criticized her coach for making a dumb move, a comment which I wholeheartedly agree with. But she then made a comment saying that she would have made saves on the shots that got by Scurry. The media heard this, and ran with it as a criticism of Scurry by one of her teammates. I saw it as that, but also as a confidence in her abilities to make the crucial saves.
Solo was the goalie who hadn't given up a goal in over 300 minutes. She was the goalie that got her team to where it was. She should have been starting, and I applaud her for being honest. She later apologized, and I honestly think that was the wrong move. She should have stood by her words.
Coach Greg Ryan should be fired for making such a boneheaded move.
In baseball, if you have a young, phenom pitcher who is pitching well, you don't replace him with an over-the-hill veteran just because the veteran has experience in tough situations.
Ryan cost the U.S. team a chance to bring back the World Cup to the States, and for that, he should lose his job. The ultimate goal is to win, and he sabotaged his teams' chance of winning. There is no forgiveness. There should be no second chance.

Etch-It-In-Stone Prediction #2

2007-09-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I analyzed this years Heisman race. To recap, I predicted that Tim Tebow would walk away from the ceremony with the hardware. Colt Brennan sprained his ankle and did not play this weekend. If he sits out another game, I think his chances of winning the Heisman might vanish.

Now for the prediction part of my post. I've been wanting to write about this for about two weeks now, but since I didn't have a place to post, I was just telling friends about this prediction.

During the first week of the season, I watched Oklahoma play, and got my first look at true freshman quarterback Sam Bradford. For a freshman he looked confident and was making precise passes. 21 of 23 for 363 yards is nothing to sneeze it, even if it was against lowly North Texas. But then again, it was North Texas.
But four weeks into the season, Bradford has a 78.1 completion percentage. That's not too shabby. In fact, that's the best completion percentage in the nation. USC senior QB John David Booty has a 70.1 comp pct. Did I mention that Bradford is a true freshman. A true freshman is propelling the #3 team in the nation.

My Etch-It-In-Stone for today is that by the end of his junior year, Sam Bradford will win the Heisman. I'll take it even further. If he wins the Heisman in 2009, he will be the first overall pick in the April 2010 NFL Draft. A kid that has this kind of accuracy and confidence is sure to have a bright future at the next level.

Take it easy,
Ali

Etch-It-In-Stone Prediction #1

2007-09-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

With the college football season in full stride, the candidates for this years Heisman Award are seperating themselves for the wannabes.
Steve Slaton and Pat White are powering West Virginia through the Big East, but they still have to go through Rutgers and South Florida. One loss for WV could mean the end of the run for both Slaton and White.
Brian Brohm is arguably the best quarterback in the nation, but his Louisville Cardinals just lost their second game of the season. In the weird college football world that we live in, his chance are pretty much gone, no matter what kind of numbers he puts up.
Darren McFadden is the most overpowering running back in the nation, combining wrecking ball force with blazing speed. The problem is Arkansas has to run the gauntlet known as the SEC. They've already lost to Alabama and Kentucky, and football isn't what the University of Kentucky is known for. They still have to play Auburn, Tennessee, new power South Carolina and national power LSU. Since the Razorbacks already have two losses, I feel comfortable writing off McFadden. If they lose one more, he can go ahead and ask for a refund on his plane ticket to New York City.
In my eyes, the leading contenders are USC quarterback John David Booty, Florida QB Tim Tebow and Hawaii QB Colt Brennan.
Booty is the conventional pocket passer with a dozen weapons surrounding him. I expect USC to run the table, which means Booty is going to have a solid season, ensuring his spot in NYC.
Tebow and Brennan are the true sleepers in the field. Tebow is the dual-threat battering ram that now gets center stage with the graudation of Chris Leak. Leak had low expectations and ended by winning a National Title. Tebow has high expectations, so he has to do more than just win the National Title. Tebow's candidacy depends almost solely on Florida's mammoth meeting with LSU on October 6th. If Florida leaves New Orleans with a win over the Bayou Bengals, Tebow should be considered the favorite for the Heisman.
Colt Brennan is the player I always keep an eye on. More accurately, whoever is playing QB for Hawaii gets my attention. If you can't put up big numbers in June Jones' offense, you shouldn't be allowed to play quarterback. While the offense scheme does comtribute to Brennan's ridiculous numbers, he still has to execute the plays. I really feel like if more people had a chance to watch Brennan play, he'd get more consideration. Hawaii's schedule may be soft compared to what Booty and Tebow have to deal with, but if Hawaii remains unbeaten, I think the committee has to at least invite Brennan to the Heisman ceremony.

With all that said, my pick for the 2007 Heisman is Tebow. Booty may get more exposure and have an easier chance of getting to the National Championship game, but Tebow does it all. We all knew he could run, but now he's proving that he can throw the ball down field. He's flashy and has more personality. And he's a sophmore. And he has the defending National Champions thinking Repeat, just like their basketball counterparts.

So Etch-It-In-Stone: 2007 Heisman Trophy Award Winner: Tim Tebow, QB, Florida.

Take it easy,
Ali

Welcome to my Opinion-driven World.

2007-09-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

Since this is my first posting, the polite thing to do would be to introduce myself. My name is Ali Thanawalla. I go by the name Ali Thanawalla. But you can call me Ali.
I'm a 23-year-old student at San Francisco State, majoring in Journalism and Photojournalism. I'm trying to decide which concentration I want to focus on. Photography is what I enjoy more, but I've had a real passion for creative writing since my senior year of high school. I finished high school with more experience looking through a viewfinder than writing about the thoughts that came into my head. But at the community college I went to, there was no photography department. So I put my mom's old Minolta camera down and turned my attention to creative writing classes.
Writing was the first solid direction I had. During high school, I dabbled in website design and thought about psychology, but I was never able to grasp those concepts completely. Writing is what pulled me towards journalism. I never thought about being a journalist growing up. But when I would pick up the newspaper every morning, my first move was to pick up the Sports page and see what columnists like Dave Del Grande, Bruce Jenkins, Tim Fitzgerald and Scott Olster had to say.
I'm a huge sports fan. I've had friends tell me that they've never met anyone that knows more about sports than I do. Combine that with my love for writing, and that's how I came up with journalism.
As one can imagine, my dad is a quite skeptical of this journalism thing, but I'm determined to do something I love with my life, and on some level, prove him wrong. I may not make as much money as he's made in his life, but I want to do something in life that makes me happy at the end of the day.

This blog is going to revolve around sports. I am going to tell you how I genuinely feel about a lot of topics, and I am going to make predictions. One of my favorite things about debating sports with friends is making bold predictions, having your friend laugh in your face and tell you that's the dumbest thing they've heard, and then have your prediction come true. I may even post some photographs that I take.

I welcome feedback, and I love to debate sports, so I hope anyone and everyone that reads this feels compelled to challenge me.

Take it easy,
Ali